World War Online
by Filius Hibernia et Germania
Summary: World War Online was supposed to be the greatest military VRMMORPG devised, but it was soon revealed to be a death trap. Now Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya as he fights for not only his life and his sanity, but for the fate of millions including the love of his life. And he must do this one battle at a time. - AU


_Prologue-_

_Somewhere over the English Channel_

_In game time: April 3__rd__, 1945_

_Real World time: November 7__th__, 2027 _

_20,000 feet up…_

As Kazuto "Kirito" Kirigaya looked out the window the captured JU-52 as he ruminated on the past seven years since he and around 2.4 million players became trapped in World War online, the first military themed VRMMORPG to use the Nerve Gear interface. At first the game seemed harmless, but that belief did a 180 when Akihiko Kayaba revealed his trap. He revealed that the only way to escape was fight or die and that attempted removal of the Nerve Gear meant death. This left him with a choice; either stay behind the lines until his he either died in game or IRL, or fight to help beat the game. Of course he decided to fight and joined the game's version of MI6 as a commando and a sniper. Luckily his chances of survival were heightened because of his experience with the beta and his knowledge of military history.

It wasn't easy though, in the seven years he was stranded in this hell he lost many friends. At nights it wasn't uncommon for him to wake up screaming from the flashbacks. But these drove him to avenge the deaths by clearing the game and then seeing that Kayaba would answer for this genocide. As such he became one of the strongest and most respected players in the game in addition to gaining the title of "The Black Bullet." Few if any dared to cross him or harm the ones he cared for.

Breaking his gaze out of the window Kazuto decided to look around the cabin at some of the strike team. He'd known many of them for years, having fought with them through some of the worst fights of the game. Seated across from him were Agil and Klein, his best friends. From what he overheard they seemed to be talking about their night on the town in London where Klein apparently started a bar fight with some players in the Army Air Corps faction.

That sounded like Klein alright. Ever since Kazuto met Klein at the start of the tutorial, he'd known him to be a reckless son of a bitch. But Kazuto knew that when it mattered, the UDT and OSS operative was one of the most dependable people you could hope to fight alongside. He had proven this during the many brawls he had accidentally dragged Agil and Kazuto into.

Whereas Klein was one of the most reckless people you could meet, Agil was the complete opposite. In the real world Agil was once Captain Andrew Gilbert Mills of the 75th Ranger Regiment, having seen service in Afghanistan and the Ukraine. Because of this, Agil felt a responsibility to help take care of the weaker players as well as those who were permanently out of action. It was this sense of responsibility that lead Kazuto and Agil to become friends in the first place after saving a squad of weak players who were pinned down by players manning a German MG nest.

Klein went on talking about the girl he had met the night before. At this Agil said "Klein you know she wasn't an actual player right? Seeing as you were too busy staring down her shirt, you might want to know she didn't have a player icon. Also judging by the fact that she was capable of having complex conversations, she was probably one of the new self-aware NPCs added in the last update. In other words you slept with a computer. Congratulations."

"I DID WHAT!?" The look on Klein face was priceless as all the blood drained from his face. Kazuto himself was barely containing himself from laughing his ass off at Klein's misfortune.

Despite the carefree nature of the two jokers, Kazuto knew he could count on them in the field. Just thinking back on the many battles they fought in Kazuto took comfort in knowing that he had people who were willing to fight to the end with. On this matter Kazuto understood that likely, if it were not for them, he probably would've ended up getting himself killed or permanently maimed.

For most of the game Kazuto had fought by himself. This was because of his fear to become too close to anyone for fear of losing them. Unfortunately this had the side effect of alienating him from those outside of his friend group. However there was one who managed to break Kazuto's isolation. This person was now seated next to him with her head on his shoulder.

Her name was Asuna, Asuna Yuuki. Kazuto smiled as his chestnut-haired angel quietly slept on his shoulder. He had met her during the evacuation at Dunkirk where they played a role in holding off the German onslaught as the BEF and the French Remnant moved to the harbor. Shortly after they had become close friends, and soon they started to fall in love. Within three years they became husband and wife, providing a reason for both to continue surviving. However this brought a troubling matter to Kazuto's thoughts. "_What will happen once the game has ended, will we ever see each other again? Worst still what if something happens here?" _These thoughts brought a frown to his face as he remembered the nightmares of the previous night.

At this point Klein had taken notice of the troubled look on Kazuto's face and it began to worry him. He had seen that look a long time ago and it worried him. Agil fell silent as well and looked to Klein giving him a look signaling to ask the kid what was wrong, even though both already knew the answer. So Klein spoke up "Hey Kirigaya, you look like shit. Everything alright kid?"

This broke Kazuto out of his thoughts. Rather than give the two reason to worry the young sniper lied. "It's nothing, Klein, I just haven't gotten any sleep in a while."

Both Agil and Klein knew this was a lie or at least a half truth, but neither the Ranger nor the Sailor wanted to push the matter any further. So instead Klein decided to try giving some encouraging words. "Well I wouldn't worry about it command says this op will be easy. They want us to drop outside of Berlin assess the remaining forces in the area, then collect our local contact then get out. Easy kind of like that operation in Oslo a few years ago."

Unfortunately these words didn't have the effect Klein thought they would. If anything they only made matters worse. Oslo was just about the last thing you should ever bring up with Kazuto.

"_Oslo?" _Kazuto thought, "_Bullshit, it was anything but…"_


End file.
